I admit, I had to find my way to my happiness. I hit a hard time in my life where I felt that I was at a crossroads - approaching 40 years old, losing my father in 2010 and my separation and divorce in 2012. I realized that I was covering up the things that made me sad and running from my past. My fears took over and I thought I was the failure since at that time, I thought everything I did was wrong. Little did I know, I was being prepared for the next four years of good things to come.

At first I thought that chasing happiness and running from everything else was going to work. Pretending things were ok when they really weren't was so draining. I even distracted myself by avoiding my problems and attempting to fix other people's problems. That only went so far. Have you ever done that? Yes, I've done that more than my fair share of times and it became hard to keep up. Being there for others and supporting people is great, but you have to first take care of you and survive so that you can help others. In a sense, I was this hybrid form of an independent woman who thought she could do it all when deep down, I know I needed support. I needed time to grieve and definitely needed help when my mouth wouldn't move to ask for it.

So what did I do at this point? I took some much needed alone time and starting writing. Even if it was only 15 minutes a day - I wrote consistently. There were some days when I just could not reach for my notebook or my computer and write - I forced myself and it felt so good after the short or long period of time that I put in to write. I wrote about what made me happy like my kids, family and friends and good coffee!

Did I ever feel stuck? Of course! I had to face those demons that were trying to haunt me but I kept going, kept writing. You know? That is and was to date some of my best writings. Do you find that to be true when you are most down or the most emotional it yields the best response? I sure do. In my search for happiness and sitting home one day surfing the Internet I came across the title to my post. Can you believe that? This right here from the Positivity Blog really helped me: Secrets to Constant Happiness

All seven of those steps spoke to me and I had to share this with you too in case you need that kick to get started. I had to get out of my own way in order to be heard and even writing sometimes was hard. I am still embracing my secrets to constant happiness and this for me starts with faith, followed by peace, positivity and self-care. All of these things are the basis for keeping your happiness on track and pursuing your dreams and feeling comfortable as you move along in your journey.

Do you have any secrets to constant happiness that you want to share? I encourage you to leave a comment below. (I read and respond to every comment) ;-) Remember, pursuing your happiness is also part of your healing. Write it down, say it, speak about it, claim it.